


Red Strings

by MrowKitty



Category: Attack on Titan, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Red String of Fate, ereri
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-17
Updated: 2014-09-17
Packaged: 2018-02-17 18:04:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2318453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrowKitty/pseuds/MrowKitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi Raivaille has an unusual supernatural-like gift that allows him to see the invisible bond two people share. This invisible bond is in the form of a red string that, as far as he knows, only he can see. Levi concluded with great proof that this bond was what people referred to as being "soul mates." for 14 years of his life he believed he would never have a soul mate until a certain fated day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red Strings

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This is my first time posting on AO3 and if you are taking the time to read my work, thank you so much for reading!
> 
> Enjoy :)

In a bland ordinary boring world lived a very short unusual man; he was only 5’3, had grey eyes, black hair and a pale complexion. You could say his personality was hard to interpret and difficult to understand at times, but his actions and life style was lively, filled with mysteries, and dangerous. He also had an extraordinarily amazing supernatural-like gift. This said man grew to hate his unusual gift as time went by; he felt this so called “gift” was more of a mockery and a curse over anything and at times he wasn’t even sure if his gift was real or all in his head. He has had this gift for as long as he can remember. This man’s name is Levi Rivaille.

This ‘gift’ wasn’t something exciting or exquisite like flying or transforming into a giant, it was a very small gift that allowed him to see things other people couldn’t. Levi’s unusual gift allows him to see people’s _red strings_ , which is a red thread-like string connected to a person’s left pinkie finger. He found out at a young age no one else could see these mysterious red strings but himself. He asked an adult when he was a young child about what the red strings were. The adults thought he was playing a game and went along with the little charade and explained to little Levi that at the end of a persons red string was that persons soul mate connected to the same string. Of course, being a shitty little brat at the time, Levi didn’t believe the adults. He asked other people about the red strings that are connected to people’s pinkies and the usual response was, “What the heck are you talking about kid? Stop playing games!” After dozens of similar responses and strange looks, Levi realized only he could see the strings. Levi stopped asking about the strings as he got older and figured them out for himself.

He noticed a family in a park one day playing together, but what caught his eye were the parents. He saw they both had a red string that was connected to each other’s pinkies. He wondered if the myth about a person’s soul mate being at the end of the string was true. He didn’t come to that conclusion for the longest time due to all the different families and couples he saw. He observed that there were families who had children but the parents didn’t have connecting strings. Sometimes they seemed perfectly happy and sometimes they didn’t. He also saw divorced couples who had connecting strings but for whatever reason broke up. All these different scenarios lead Levi to be confused on the matter.

When Levi delved deeper into the red string mystery, he realized not just females and males were connected but males could also be connected to other males and Females could be connected to other females. Levi noticed more couples with connecting strings seemed happier than couples who didn’t have connecting strings. He observed there weren’t very many couples with connecting stings over the years however, only a handful.

When Levi was in elementary school one of his teachers happened to be one of the people he ran into with connecting strings to their significant other. His teacher’s partner often came into class to drop off a lunch during lunch break. The chemistry between them was perfect and they seemed inseparable. Levi boldly asked his teacher how happy she was with her partner one day and where she thought the relationship was going. She wasn’t sure how to answer him at first but she eventually told him the truth. She said her partner was perfect and she just _knew_ they were each other’s life partners and over time concluded they’d work out perfectly once she got to know him. A couple years later when Levi was 9, he found out that his previous teacher got married to that same partner. That was when Levi concluded a person’s red string lead to their soul mate.

This conclusion didn’t make Levi happy at all unfortunately, and he didn’t feel satisfied. This conclusion only made Levi feel lonely and resentful of himself for the longest time. It was bad enough he didn’t have a good life as a child due to neighborhood and family issues, but at that moment of clarity he _knew_ he was never going to be happy and have a connection with anyone like his teacher did with her spouse. He _knew_ he didn’t have a soul mate.

He was completely certain he didn’t have a soul mate because _Levi didn’t have a red string._

~.~

Levi’s life at home was never a good one. His parents always fought and yelled and caused Levi to always want to escape from the cruel reality. As a kid, his form of escapism was reading books and magazines and anything he managed to get his hands on and read so he could immerse himself in another world that wasn’t so cruel. His parents never had connecting strings and fought frequently so he always wondered why they even stayed together—it’s not like they paid much attention to him anyways. When Levi was around 9 years old he started sneaking out when his parents started fighting, because frankly, he just couldn’t stand it. He disliked going out into the neighborhood alone because it wasn’t a very good area; older children and teenagers often hung around the area picking on other weaker kids who’d be unfortunate enough to be around them at the time, but he hated his parents’ fighting even more.

Levi often left the house because of how often his parents fought, which lead to Levi getting into trouble with thugs in his neighborhood. He used to get his ass handed to him frequently because for one, he was small for his age and two, he was always outnumbered. Levi learned how to be street smart and how to fight and defend himself from the delinquents as a result of all the encounters he had with them when leaving his house by himself.

Levi was now 14 and most of the neighborhood thugs left him alone at this point. Whenever they faced Levi, he was the one who usually beat them down with almost no competition despite how small he was. Whenever he left his house now, he sometimes almost looked forward to being picked on so he had a chance to beat up the thugs like they were mere punching bags. He took his frustrations from life out on them when he was fighting. He had so much built up frustration and anger from his parents constant fighting, school, unhappiness—and the fact he knew he was never going to belong with anyone. He figured he was never going to have a happy life so he took his frustrations out on the thugs that provoked him; he’d beat them bloody and would break bones despite being shorter than almost all of them. Levi made many enemies, all whom wished he were gone because of his actions; however, Levi didn’t think about consequences that were to come from beating up so many people around him.

On an evening Levi’s parents where fighting again, he took a book from his room and was wanting to go to a 24 hour café somewhere to read his book and just escape into a world he could forget about all the troubles from his life. Before Levi could even make it a block away, he ran into a group of people who had a murderous look in their eyes. All these people had beef with Levi because he’s dealt with them before, except this time there was over 10 people. Levi immediately knew they were intending to either end him then and there or beat him senseless. When he turned around to get away he found there were also people behind him blocking his way. He was trapped.

“What do you want?”

“What do you think we want Levi? It’s time you learned your place around here.”

He saw no way out; he embraced what was to come. He punched and kicked the first few people that came after him first, but he was soon overwhelmed and quickly on the ground getting beaten to a pulp. The pain was overbearing and endless. A few strong kicks to his head was the last he remembered before he blacked out.

~.~

When Levi roused from the blackness, he wasn’t certain where he was. Everything surrounding him was white and smelled sterile. His vision focused and he realized he was in a hospital bed. He tried to sit up, but then all the pain suddenly hit him.

“Shit!! Ow… How did I get here?” He was too sore to move much so he silently waited until a nurse walked in to check on him.

“Oh! You’re awake, let me go get a doctor.” Levi watched the nurse exit and come back in with a doctor.

“Hello Levi, how are you feeling?”

“Shitty…”

“Yes, well… it looks like you got quite the beating…” Levi looked a bit irritated as the doctor said that, “You have a concussion, 5 broken ribs along with your left humerus, right femur and clavicle. Levi, what exactly happened to you?”

 _Screw this_. Levi didn’t want to be here with people about to pry into his life and lecture him for being an idiot; he already knew he was being an idiot.

“When can I leave?”

“We need to give you some tests to determine how bad your concussion is first, but even if it’s mild we recommend you stay in the hospital for a few more days.”

 _God dammit._ He really didn’t want to be here. He felt so out of place and strange, he didn’t feel comfortable with people interacting with him like this.

“I’m fine, I don’t need your stupid tests.” The doctor in front of Levi looked concerned and a bit irritated at the same time.

“You may think your fine, but we really need to at least check your concussion. You need to take it easy for a few weeks and relax. I’ll be right back to check your concussion, ok?” without a response the doctor left to go get whatever it was she needed. He said to himself all this really isn’t avoidable. He did think he deserved all that came to him with all the harm he’s caused to others, even if they were the ones to provoke him.

The doctor came back and performed a series of tests to determine how messed up his head really was. Apparently it was bad, but not the worst she’s seen. Despite this, Levi still had to stay at the hospital for a few more days to be monitored. What shitty luck he had. He glanced around the room for a book to pass the time, he saw a book on a stand right next to his bed, it was the one he had in his pocket when he left the house the other day. There was a faint blood stain on the cover, probably from his own blood.

 _Filthy_. He read his book until He fell asleep.

There was a rustling sound in Levi’s room that made him wake up. He saw the same nurse that was in his room yesterday. The nurse looked at Levi and noticed he was now awake.

“Sorry, did I wake you?”

“Yes.” Of course, no one else was making that loud-ass racket.

“I was just laying out some clean clothes, I’ll be on my way now!” Levi watched as the person left. Levi saw a new crutch in the corner of his eye by his bed. One of his parents must have brought it in so they wouldn’t have to be there. They’re pretty much saying, “ _Do this yourself, this is your own mess,”_ with that gesture.

He reached for his new crutch and attempted to get up. This really sucks with a broken leg and arm. Getting up took Levi more effort and strength than he thought; it was so painful! He walked to the bathroom that was just 10 feet away but it took about 5 minutes to achieve. He refused to have anyone help him with anything because

 _Fuck them, I’m not some weak pussy._ Also, he’s a very stubborn ass and wants to do everything on his own. Sometimes he wished he wasn’t so stubborn in moments like these because just walking to the bathroom took so much energy and caused him to overexert himself. Levi took a look at himself in the bathroom mirror and realized he looked like hell. All his visible skin looked as if it turned black and blue and had gashes and bandages in multiple stops. When he made it back to his bed he was drenched in sweat and was hurting all over.

 _This is so disgusting… I’m so filthy…_ The next time the nurse came in, he offered to switch out his bed sheets and handed Levi his new hospital gown he laid out earlier. Levi got up enough to sit in the chair besides him and found it rather difficult to change with one hand. He put on a straight face so he wouldn’t let the nurse see just how much difficulty he was having. _Fuck knots. And fragile bones! I wouldn’t be having this problem if my bones weren’t so god damn fragile._

When the sheets were changed and Levi somehow managed to switch into a clean gown, he sat back on his bed. Before the nurse left with the dirty items, Levi murmured, “Thank you.” Just loud enough so the nurse could hear. He just smiled in response because he figured Levi was too proud and headstrong and didn’t want to push Levi anymore then he was already pushing himself.

“Wait… could you come back with some wet wash cloths? I need to wash this filth off of me…”

“Yeah, just a sec!” He came back shortly after with a bowl of warm water and some washcloths. Despite his awful form of expression, Levi was extremely grateful; he just hated showing his emotions and wasn’t even sure if he could express himself normally anymore. He kind of locked his expressions and emotions away _years_ ago. Right before the male nurse could put the objects down on Levi’s bed stand, a doctor came in asking for assistance with a child birth. The nurse quickly put the supplies down and rushed out of the room. Levi just took the wet wash cloths and sponge and tried to clean his body.

~.~

It had been quite a few hours since Levi’s nurse had left his room and he still hadn’t returned to check on him. He didn’t care really, he was just hungry. Levi was reading his same book from earlier and was almost completely finished with it. Levi looked up from his book and didn’t realize how dark the room was getting from the setting sun, so he turned to the lamp next to his bed and switched it on. As if on cue, a new nurse came into Levi’s room with a tray of hospital food on it.

“Here’s your food, sorry it’s so late, we didn’t realize your nurse was still helping deliver a baby!”

“That’s fine…” The nurse put the tray of food down on Levi’s bed and left after Levi had no complaints or requests. Levi took the roll on the tray and was about to take a bite when something caught his eye. Something red. Something that was forming around his finger. Something red and around his _pinkie_ finger. He watched as red threads were being woven around his pinkie and then coming together above him. He had dropped his roll at this point and was watching with wide open eyes as it formed through the ceiling. He stared at the Red string around his finger with an agape mouth and a loss for words. Not even a single thought ran though his mind; he just stared. He examined the string that was going through the ceiling and stared back at his pinkie. He tried to grab the string but it went right through his hand as if it were a ghost. He then tried to shake it off, but that didn’t happen either. He was still at a loss for words, he was so utterly dumbfounded he just couldn’t even think of anything for quite a while. It had been at least 15 minutes before Levi had a thought; _what the hell is this shit?_

It must be the pain killers, clearly he’s hallucinating. Or so he thought; maybe even wished.

 _This can’t be right. Just a bit ago I didn’t belong to anyone. How in the world is this possible? Someone can’t be attached to me!_ Levi was deep in thought and didn’t move for a while. As Levi asked himself questions on the issue he began to grow more and more confused and frustrated. He stopped his chattering mind and stared down at his hand with the string connected to it. A strong feeling of guilt and anxiety suddenly filled him when a new thought arose in his mind.

 _If this is real… someone’s soul mate is me… I… I don’t deserve that… THEY don’t deserve someone as shitty as me…_ Levi clenched his right fist in a ball but found it impossible to do with his left. He scowled as he looked at the red string and a feeling of anger washed over him. He didn’t like this one bit. If this was some god’s form of a sick joke, he definitely wasn’t laughing. Levi followed where the string was headed above his head with his grey eyes. If the string was above him, that must mean his “soul mate” was in this very hospital in a floor above him. Levi was still feeling skeptical about the whole situation, he still thought there was a possibility he was hallucinating. He needed to go see for himself. He needed to go make sure this was real. He remembered how hard it was just to go to the bathroom earlier, it took so much time just to move a few feet, not to mention how much strain it put onto his body. He quickly brushed those memories aside and got his crutch from beside his bed. He didn’t care how long it would take or how much strain this was going to put on him later, he NEEDED to go see.

Levi swung his beaten legs off the side of the bed and shifted his weight onto the crutch as he stood up. When He straightened up he felt a slight tingle of pain in his body, but proceeded to walk to the hospital door. Once he reached it he had to lean against the frame for a second. This was going to take a really long time. Levi glanced around the hallways to make sure no nurses were close enough to notice him leaving his room. When he was determined it was safe, he slowly but surely started making his way towards an elevator that he figured would be close by. He was moving about as slow as a turtle but still needed to lean against a wall for a short break every now and then. By the time the elevator was in sight his entire body felt like it was on fire and his body was pleading for rest. His body burned and ached with every movement at this point, but Levi was determined to go see what was at the end of his string, he wasn’t going to give up. Levi was dripping with sweat as if he was out in blazing summer heat. He felt disgusting and revolting but that didn’t stop him. It could be anytime now that the hospital staff realized Levi was gone and would go searching for him so he rushed as fast as he could and pushed the dimly lit elevator button.

As Levi hobbled into the elevator his heart beat grew quicker. The red string became level to him as the elevator rose. If there really was a person on the other end of his string, they were on this floor. The elevator opened with a ding and Levi eyed the direction his string was headed. It was a little hard to tell exactly where his string was connected to because it was fazing thought walls. Levi glanced around his surroundings and realized this floor was for mothers and their newborn babies after childbirth. He couldn’t tell where exactly his string was headed so he had to guess. It had to be somewhere near the far end of this floor, unfortunately for him. He found himself taking more and more breaks trying to reach his destination. As he leaned against a wall across from patients rooms, a nurse came out of one and noticed Levi.

“Excuse me sir, are you lost?” _Well shit._

“No, I’m not.”

“Sir, I don’t think you’re supposed to be here. Do you need assistance?”

“NO, I’m FINE, just leave me be!” _Shit shit shit shit shit I need to hurry now. They’re suspicious of me and will probably call security._ He turned a corner and saw his string in pain view. He saw a patient’s room door-stopped opened and his red string creeping in. His heart skipped a beat at the sight. Every single step he took made his whole body ache and drip with sweat. His vision started going a little hazy and the pain was overbearing. His movements stopped and his vision became clear when he was outside of the open door. He was hesitant to peak in. He had so many emotions built up at that very moment he couldn’t make sense what to do.

 _Just walk in and look, idiot… just look to see what’s inside… the room might be empty and your mind could have just been playing tricks on you. Go before you’re taken away!_ Levis harsh encouragement to himself pushed him to walk closer and peer through the door.

There it was in clear vision. His red String. It was headed to an older dark haired women? No wait… The women was holding a bundle in her arms. His red string lead to that buddle. The bundle squirmed and revealed a brown mop of hair. The women was holding a new born baby. Levi stared at the new born baby for a few moments and tried to process it all.

 _My soul mate is this baby. Is this why I didn’t have a red string until today? My soul mate just… simply wasn’t born yet?_ As he stared at the child before him his vision began to blur again. Levi thought it might be because of the pain but then his cheeks felt wet. _What’s going on?_ Levi raised his hand and touched his cheek. _Tears?_ He hadn’t shed a single tear for as long as he could remember. Even when he was being beaten to a pulp the other day he hadn’t cried a bit, so why was it now the tears decided to flow? He tried to wipe them away on his arm but they wouldn’t stop. There was just too many overwhelming feelings and emotions flooding Levi. He felt unbelievably happy, and sad, and depressed, and angry.

 _This poor child doesn’t deserve to be forever attached to someone as shitty as me… I can’t make anyone happy. This new born innocence will only be corrupted by someone as terrible as myself…_ Levi let out a few sobs louder than he realized, at this point he couldn’t control all the emotions pouring out.

_I was never truly meant to be alone… but I acted like an immature little kid and even got myself in a situation like this… as I am now I couldn’t make anyone happy, no one would be happy with someone who’d beat up punks to relieve stress. I can’t be happy. I don’t deserve happiness. My… soul mate would be much happier without me. They can still be happy! I’ve seen it happen so many times, most people don’t ever find their souls mates but can still be happy with another partner._

Levi felt a feeling of relief and happiness just knowing he was actually meant to be happy with someone, but he also felt a great sorrow knowing his soul mate could grow and be happy without him, but that’s what Levi decided needed to happen. He couldn’t be a part of this child’s life, ever. He’d only be a bad influence. Levi’s vision started to blur even more but with darkness. He noticed all the pain his body now felt. Everything felt like it was on fire, even his eyes.

“Son? Are you alright?” Levi heard a man’s voice from inside of the room he was just looking into. The man was talking to Levi, but he couldn't see him through his blurry eyes. He must have been that women’s partner.

 _Oh, look… they have connecting strings. My soul mate will have a loving family…_ His vision only got darker as he collapsed from exhaustion and pain.

~.~

Levi slowly opened his eyes and he was back in the same white sterile smelling room. _Déjà vu_. He assumed he must have been brought back by staff when he collapsed. _I probably scared the living hell out of that poor family… I just burst out crying in front of their room and collapsed right outside their doorway._ He felt a little guilty about that situation, but at least Levi knows now. He knows he does indeed have a soul mate and his string appearing wasn’t just some trick of the mind. Levi was feeling very melancholy remembering everything. He knew nothing good was going to come out of him having a red string; his soul mate would be better off without him. Or so Levi thinks.

_That poor child is cursed with a soul mate like myself. If I can’t make myself happy, how could I make someone else happy? Why must I have a soul mate?_

More and more thoughts and questions were forming and swarming inside of his mind. He had so many questions that he knew he was never going to get answers for, like who in the world decided to give a brat like Levi a red string and why 14 years after he was born? Why is there such a big age gap? Nothing seemed to make sense to him, he just wrote it off as weird anomalies that happened. As far as Levi knows, he’s the only person who can even see the red strings that connects people. Maybe this was just a god who was bored and decided to entertain itself by torturing Levi with this gift and was waiting for just the right moment to finally give Levi his string. If the god was hoping for an emotional drama to happen he definitely got it. In conclusion, Levi didn’t know why all this was happening to him but what he knew for certain was the moment he laid eyes on his end of the red string, he wasn’t going to be a part of the child’s life. He believed his own life was so corrupt he’d only end up negatively influencing the child. Maybe this would be true, he didn’t know for certain and certainly not what was to come in the future, but he wasn’t going to take any chances. He didn’t know a single thing about his soul mate and what his life had in store for him but as long as Levi wasn’t in it, he can’t make it bad. Levi wasn’t going to get involved in this child’s life. He was going to go about his own life and hopefully never run into them.

_This doesn’t mean I should still continue on this shitty path I’m currently on. I can become a better person and maybe even live a happy life._

Levi made it a life goal to get out of the shitty rut he was in and turn his life around for the better. He was going to start this the moment he got out of this hospital. He was going to do this not only for himself, but so his soul mate wouldn’t be cursed to such a horrible person. This was something that was long overdue, but he seriously doesn’t think his life choices would have changed unless this life event had happened.

While Levi feels he eternally cursed this poor innocent child, he also feels this child may have saved him.

Levi tried his best to avoid his soul mate for the rest of his life, but avoidance only worked for 20 years. Eventually, Eren found Levi. He was working in a peaceful book store called "Wings of Freedom." Eren finally followed his string, into the shop, and found a man with a extremely shocked face. He saw the older man glance at their pinkies, and quickly back to the face of his now fully grown soul mate. he was pretty positive the shorter man could also see their strings, but said nothing of it. Instead, he smiled brightly at him, and said something he wasn't expecting. 

Hello, I'd like to work here! 

**Author's Note:**

> if you're interested, here's my tumblr fanfiction blog! http://squeakyannefanfiction.tumblr.com/ I answer questions and post more about updates!
> 
> Alright, so I originally was going to make this into a series, but decided to make this a one shot considering I've never updated since I published (I'm so sorry!!) BUT I made it open to continue as a series if I ever feel like going back to it. I'll probably create a whole new series and make it a part 2 or a sequel. But basically, imagine Eren being a pain in the ass trying to get the job. He eventually does get the job just so he can be closer to the man whose supposedly his soul mate. Eren knows Levi can see the strings, but keeps it a secret that he can. He knows Levi was avoiding meeting him his whole life, so he takes the slower route to make his way into Levi's heart. ;)


End file.
